Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Friday.
SOL Liberty/Freedom Crossovers
Abington 1, Springfield Twp 0
Two of the top teams in the SOL and all of District One met on Friday, and it was a good one, with only a goal by Abington’s Brady Hartman separating two teams that stand atop their respective divisions.
“It was a good game,” said Galloping Ghosts coach Randy Garber. “The conditions weren’t the best, a lot of slipping and sliding because we have grass, not turf. It was a little bit sloppy, but two good teams.
“They’re a very good team. Because they’re 5A and we’re 6A, we won’t see them at all down the road. They should go pretty far in the district and even states, because they’re a pretty sound team.”
Hartman’s goal came midway through the first half with an assist from Braeden Brownholtz.
“We had a lot of pressure on them, and a ball came across from Brownholtz to Hartman, and he put it away nicely in the far corner,” Garber said.
Both teams had other chances, and Abington’s defense stood tall in the second half to help secure the shutout.
“We had chances,” Garber said. “Their danger was on throw-ins. They must have had probably every bit of 25 throw-ins from 18 yards in. They had a big kid that could throw the ball in. That’s where their danger was offensively – throwing it in the mix and hoping they would get a head on it or we’d make a mistake, and the ball would land on one of their feet, and they’d put it in the back of the net.
“But our defense – Peter Cleary and Daniel Oliveria – did a great job of winning balls and getting them downfield. Those two defensively were very, very sound. (Brandon) Escobar, another big defender, played the right back, and Kyle Sheridan played the left back. They were good.
“Our goalkeeper – Justin Waterfall – was good in the goal. He didn’t have much work to do, but he won a couple balls in the air, and that got us out of trouble. Our defense did a heck of a job throughout the whole entire game.”
Abington (11-1, 10-0 SOL) is off until Wednesday when it hosts William Tennent.
Springfield (11-1, 9-1 SOL) will look to bounce back from its first loss at home Wednesday against Wissahickon.
Springfield 0 0 – 0
Abington 1 0 – 1
Hatboro-Horsham 3, Upper Moreland 0
The Hatters needed a win and got just that against their biggest rival, blanking Upper Moreland in a crossover game Friday.
“Obviously, it’s been kind of an up and down year for us,” said Hatboro-Horsham coach Kyle McGrath. “We’ve got a lot of new varsity guys, and we’ve been stressing to them, you’re not young varsity players anymore. It’s time to start playing with some maturity, and I thought we did that today.”
H-H led 1-0 at halftime, thanks to a goal in the 32nd minute by Logan Clayton.
“He was probably 18 yards out on the side of the 18-yard box, and he put a shot into the far post that beat the keeper,” McGrath said.
In the second half, the Hatters scored twice two minutes apart, in the 45th and 47th minutes, to create a little distance and essentially put this one away.
“We had pressured them a little bit to start the second half,” McGrath said. “My center back, Christian Patelmo, got a ball and dribbled it a little bit forward and played a driven ball across the box, and it found Nick Belizzie, who was able to take a touch and poke it into the upper 90 for his first career varsity goal. He’s only a freshman, and it was good to get him on the scoreboard.”
Anthony Pumilia closed out the scoring with an unassisted goal.
“We played a ball into Anthony Pumilia, probably about 35 yards out, and he was able to beat three or four defenders on the dribble, including kind of flicking the ball over two of the defenders before putting it into the goal from about 10 yards out,” McGrath said. “It was a real nice individual goal for Ant.”
On the defensive side, the Hatters kept the Golden Bears off the scoreboard with a solid effort in the back as well.
“My two center backs – Luke Weiss and Christian Patelmo – had a part in defending corner kicks, long throw-ins and restarts to help keep the shutout for us today,” McGrath said. “Outside back Louis Matullo is a sophomore. He’s really young, but he’s solid back there, always makes the right play. So, it was good to defend the way we did because Upper Moreland did have quite a few opportunities via long throws and free kicks that we had to deal with on a slick day.”
H-H (4-6, 4-6 SOL) is off until Wednesday when it hosts Cheltenham in another crossover game.
UM (2-9, 1-9 SOL) next plays Wednesday at Plymouth Whitemarsh.
H-H 1 2 – 3
UM 0 0 – 0
Lower Moreland 1, Wissahickon 0
After a tough loss to SOL Liberty-leading Abington on Wednesday, Lower Moreland went back to work, and after another battle Friday, the Lions came out on the winning side against Wissahickon, thanks to a second half goal by Adam Shiloni and strong play in goal by keeper Keegan Courduff.
“(The Abington game) was a game where we didn’t think we played our game or up to our potential,” said Lions coach Bob Barnhart. “We sat in the classroom on Thursday for almost two hours and watched the Abington film. We were all disappointed with our effort and attitude on the field.
“We went into today with a solid game plan, and we all seemed focused and ready to execute the plan. But as they say, the best laid plans … Alex Pickering who has been playing phenomenal for us over the last 3-4 games got an early yellow on a questionable call and then did what inexperienced underclassmen do and took an ill-advised foul with 5 seconds left in the half for his second yellow.
“We went into the break 0-0 knowing we had to play an entire half down a guy. The coaching staff formulated a plan at half, and all of the players were on board. We ran through 6-7 guys up top and just tried to run their backs.”
It also put a lot of pressure on Courduff, who Barnhart said “stood on his head in the second half, making at least eight to 10 key saves to keep us in the game.”
Offensively, it came down to taking advantage of opportunities, and the Lions did so with Shiloni’s goal.
“We had chances but defended for much of the season half, looking to hit Wiss on a counter or set piece, and in the 72nd minute, we were able to get Adam Shiloni in behind, and he didn’t miss,” Barnhart said. “I was impressed with his composure in that moment.
“He had a chance earlier in the half and didn’t put the best strike on it, but he constantly preaches we need to be calm on the ball and have a short memory when making mistakes.
“After we went up 1-0 with about 9 minutes to go we tried to control the tempo and John Kroll was huge in helping us see out the game.
“This was a game that we thought we had a good chance to pull out, then to go down to 10 men with a whole half to go and play as a collective unit and pull out a win, I was super proud of the guys today.”
LM (7-4, 6-4 SOL) has a nonleague game Monday at home against Plumstead Christian.
Wissahickon (6-5, 5-5 SOL) is off until Wednesday when it plays a crossover game at Springfield.
LM 0 1 – 1
Wissahickon 0 0 – 0
Upper Dublin 4, New Hope-Solebury 2
After a wild first half, Upper Dublin scored the only goal of the second half to pull away from New Hope for the 4-2 win.
“It was a good way to end the week,” said Flying Cardinals coach Noah Johnson. “We have a long week next week with three games.”
New Hope took an early 1-0 lead in this one, only to see UD answer with three straight goals by Owen Smith (Campbell Heckler assist), Kaleb Abebea and Kyle Spirt (Rylie McLaughlin assist). The Lions scored just before halftime to make it a 3-2 game.
Spirt scored the lone goal of the second half for the 4-2 final.
UD (8-2, 7-2 SOL) next plays at Plymouth Whitemarsh on Monday.
New Hope (0-9, 0-9 SOL) has a night game at William Tennent Monday.
NH-S 2 0 – 2
UD 3 1 – 4
William Tennent 2, Plymouth Whitemarsh 0
Scoreless at the half, Connor Hanratty cashed in on two opportunities in the second half as Tennent emerged with the hard-fought shutout win over visiting PW on Friday.
The win was the third in a row for the Panthers, who improved to 5-5 overall (4-5 SOL).
In the first half, according to Tennent coach Angelo Albanese, “both teams battled hard at midfield without either side being able to create any good scoring opportunities.”
That changed in the second half, as Hanratty took a pass from Mason Adelson and went 1-on-1 with the keeper.
“Connor buried it with the outside of his foot in the upper left corner.”
The second goal came after a feed from Tyler Tomlinson, and Hanratty then “struck a bullet in the right upper corner.”
Albanese also credited the play of keeper Zack Dinnis, who had his third shutout of the season, as well as Ryan Black, Bryce Defonteny, Alex Di Prinzio, Dominic Grasse, Carter Jameson and Adelson on the defensive side.
Tennent is back in action in Freedom Division play Monday against New Hope-Solebury, before tough games against Abington and Springfield later in the week.
PW (4-7, 4-5 SOL) hosts Upper Dublin on Monday.
PW 0 0 – 0
WT 0 2 – 2
SOL Patriot/Colonial Crossovers
Council Rock South 4, Pennridge 3
Needing a win after back-to-back losses, CR South fell down a goal early in this game, but battled back, scoring four straight – including three by Frankie Rafferty – and then held on down the stretch for the one-goal win over host Pennridge.
“Full credit to Pennridge for staying focused and battling back, scoring twice, with seven and five minutes left,” said Golden Hawks coach Alan Nicholl. “Aaron (Rapsinski) is obviously doing a terrific job in his inaugural year with his team and their hard work and belief. A lot of teams would have mailed it in being down three with less than 10 to play.
“I’m obviously disappointed with our letdown late in the game, but it goes to scoring the tight margins within the Suburban One League.”
Pennridge opened the scoring with a Pat Fannon goal.
“Pat Fannon picked the ball off the defender, made another defender miss with a great cutback, and hit a great ball for the goal,” said Rapsinski.
Trailing 1-0, CR South ended up rallying to take a 2-1 lead at halftime, as Rafferty scored twice, first with an assist from George Simon and then unassisted. He added his third goal 45 seconds into the second half and then assisted on a Mike Burns goal, which made it 4-1 in the 55th minute.
“I thought we won a lot of physical battles in the midfield,” Nicholl said. “So, shoutout to Mike Burns and Sean Davis for their commitment, and obviously, Frankie with a (hat trick) speaks volumes for his impact again.”
Pat Edinger and Sal D’Aquino scored Pennridge’s final two goals.
“I started playing some more of my reserve guys and they worked their butts off to cut the lead to 4-3,” Rapsinski said. “Pat Edinger scored off a George Fitzgerald assist with about 12 minutes left in the game. Sal D’Aquino scored off a Zac Curran assist just two minutes later.
“We kept pushing, but just couldn’t find that equalizer.”
With the win, CR South improved to 7-3-1 overall (6-3-1 SOL), heading into its next game, a crossover night game against Souderton.
Pennridge (3-7, 3-6 SOL) has a SOL Colonial division game at home Saturday (2:30 p.m.) against CB West.
CR South 2 2 – 4
Pennridge 1 2 – 3
Central Bucks West 1, Pennsbury 0
With a stellar defensive effort, CB West won its third straight game on Friday, shutting out Pennsbury on the road, 1-0, in a crossover game.
“It took us a few minutes to settle in but once we did, I thought we did a pretty good job of controlling things for the majority of the match,” said Bucks coach John Adair. “We were aware of a couple of difference-makers that they had, and I thought everyone played a role in slowing them down and allowing us to play on the front foot.
“Harrison Brownlow and Nico Propato were terrific for us in midfield today. Harrison is someone that could be recognized in every single game for the amount of ground he covers and his quality on the ball. Nico has given us great minutes this week and for me, today was his best performance. I don’t think he put a foot wrong all day.
“It also goes without saying that we defended really well. In particular, Jace Peterson and Christian Woo were tremendous in preventing their chances in transition and starting attacks for us.”
Joey Dowd’s first half goal was the difference in the final score.
“When he’s playing with confidence and at a high tempo, he’s as dangerous a forward as we’ve come across this season,” Adair said.
“Huge credit goes out to Pennsbury as well. They’re a better side than their results show, and they’ve been on the wrong side of tight games. They continued to push today until the final whistle, and if we weren’t up to the task defensively, it could have been a frustrating day for us.”
CB West (6-5, 6-3 SOL) hosts Pennridge on Saturday.
Pennsbury (2-7-2, 2-6-2 SOL) plays at Holy Ghost Prep in a nonleague game on Monday.
CB West 1 0 – 1
Pennsbury 0 0 – 0
Bensalem 2, North Penn 1 (OT)
Tejas Sasan scored the game-winning goal in overtime, as Bensalem got over the hump and edged North Penn in an exciting crossover game on Friday.
“We finally won one,” said Owls coach Kevin Bock. “We have had so many one-goal losses. This huge.
“It was just a total team effort. The boys have just continued to work hard, they continue to remain focused. I’m proud of the effort, and it’s really good for them to get on the end of a positive result for once.”
North Penn scored the only goal of the first half, but Bensalem came back to tie the game with a Jacob Oniate goal in the second half.
“We played kind of a sloppy first half,” Bock said. “We gained our composure as the half went on.
“In the second half, we came out with a different focus, played well and we kind of got a junk goal in front of the net when Jon Bedoya put it up through to Jacob Oniate, who was able to finish it to tie it up.”
Near the end of the first OT, Sasan cashed in to give Bensalem the win.
“Matt Wheaton lost the ball near midfield, but then worked his tail off, won the ball back. He played a great ball through to Tejas Sasan, who had a settle, touch and then put the most beautiful curling shot into the corner.
“Zach Letchner, my goalie, had just another outstanding game. He’s just been so consistent all year.
“Jonathan Bedoya, who assisted the first goal, just brought a ton of energy, won every 50-50 ball, had just a great physical presence and was a real big spark for us, which was something we needed. He played really well.”
With the win, the Owls are now 3-7 (overall and in the SOL) and next play Wednesday at Pennridge.
North Penn (3-5-2, 3-4-2 SOL) has a home nonleague game Monday against La Salle.
North Penn 1 0 0 – 1
Bensalem 0 1 1 – 2
Central Bucks East 1, Neshaminy 0
It took a goal in the 73rd minute, but CB East remained undefeated in SOL play with the shutout win over a game Neshaminy squad in a crossover on Friday.
“It was definitely not our best game,” said Patriots coach Josh Isaacsohn. “We came out fairly flat and just missed some opportunities in the first half. It was not our best effort. We were a little unfocused and didn’t have a ton of physicality in the first half.
“I think in the second half, we picked it up a little bit. They had a few chances. I think we had a few more than they did, but each time when the ball probably could have been slotted back post on the ground, we were constantly hitting it near post at the keeper.
“We were just not connecting with each other, connecting with the ball, but again, to the team’s credit, they stuck in it. They kept them with a zero and they saw it through.”
Michael Montabana scored with an assist from Daniel Frye for the game’s only goal.
Neshaminy had some chances but came up a little short against one of the best teams in the Suburban One League.
“I was pretty happy with the way we played,” said Neshaminy coach Tom Foley. “We gave up a goal in the last seven minutes of the game. They’re a pretty good side. They’re big, and except for my two center backs, they have three or four inches on every one of my players and probably 15-20 pounds on all my players, so it just makes things rough.
“There was a wind in the second half we had to contend with, and the ball stays up in the air for a while, and when you have three inches on the other kid, it’s kind of difficult to win balls in the air. That made it difficult.”
But in what has been a tough season for Neshaminy (2-7-1, 2-7-1 SOL), it could be a possible step as it looks to get back into Patriot Division play.
“There was nothing spectacular they did soccer-wise to beat us,” Foley said. “They just kept throwing balls over the top, and the goal they got, their kid got half a step on my center back. He couldn’t get goal side, and their kid did a nice job putting it past our goalie.
“Overall, we did a real solid job today. We were organized. We frustrated them in the first half. They were talking to themselves walking off at halftime.
“I think we learned a lot. We learned that when you’re organized you can frustrate the other teams and create a lot of turnovers that benefitted us. It was a good effort by our guys.”
Foley credited the play of Jack Sexton in the middle and Matt Diamond, who “did a nice job creating turnovers against their backs.
“It was a good team effort limiting a team like that to one goal,” the Redskins’ coach said. “We had a couple of chances here and there, and we were maybe a little panicked because we’re inexperienced, but it was definitely a positive step for us.
“We get right back at it (Saturday) against Southern Lehigh and then we have (Archbishop) Wood on Monday. We don’t have too much time to dwell on it, but we took a lot of positives out of today, which is good.”
Central Bucks East (9-1, 9-0 SOL) will host Souderton on Monday at 4 p.m.
Neshaminy 0 0 – 0
CB East 0 1 – 1
Council Rock North 1, Souderton 0 (2 OT)
Ari Pollack scored on a penalty kick with 5 minutes, 15 seconds remaining in the second overtime, as CR North avoided a potential tie and emerged with the road win at Souderton.
With the win, CR North remained unbeaten and in command atop the SOL Patriot standings with an 8-0-2 record (9-0-2 overall).
“I tell you what, (Souderton coach Frank Demas) had his kids very disciplined,” said CR North coach Joe Stackhouse. “We probably played 70 percent of the game in their half of the field, but they did a very good job. They disrupted us all day. They did exactly what they needed to do to stall us. He was smart.”
Neither team was able to score a goal through regulation and then the first overtime, and it might have ended in a scoreless tie, if not for Pollack’s clutch PK.
“To set up the penalty kick, we had a restart – a very good head ball opportunity by Logan Adams,” Stackhouse said. “He got free of his mark, and when he headed the ball down, a defender had to hand it. Otherwise, I think he might have possibly been able to score on the head ball itself.
“We had three sitting ducks in regulation inside the 6-yard mark and we blew them.”
Stackhouse also credited the strong play on defense of Michael Pihno, Darek Miller, Dom Czachor and Jasper Ring. Rock North has allowed just five goals in 11 games and has recorded six shutouts.
On the other side of the field, Demas had good things to say about his team’s performance as well.
“Both teams played a hard-fought game,” the Indians’ coach said. “While we had a few chances to score early in OT, the deciding goal came off a deflected ball in the box that hit a Souderton hand, causing a PK.
“Our entire team worked really hard and played well throughout the game. The entire team was full of standout players.”
CR North is off until Wednesday when it hosts Central Bucks East in a battle of division leaders.
Souderton (4-4-1, 4-4-1 SOL) will get first crack at CB East, on the road Monday.
CR North 0 0 0 1 – 1
Souderton 0 0 0 0 – 0
Central Bucks South 10, Harry S Truman 1
With goals by 10 different players, CB South broke open the scoring in the second half and cruised to the win in this one, but following the game, Titans coach Kyle Pettican had nothing but positive things to say about Truman and its players Friday.
“I just want to say how much I respect Truman and the program as a whole,” he said. ”They definitely improved a lot from previous years. Their coach is building some structure there.
“I just love how no matter what, they still have kids committed and showing up consistently and in great spirits. Their players were still smiling all game, working hard, having laughs with our guys, high fiving us, etc. …They play the sport for the right reasons.”
Goal scorers for CB South included Lucas Tyson, Jose Lucas-Avila, Luke Fromal, Tyler Jaskelewicz, Evan Jaskelewicz, Nate MacLeod, Jackson Tait, Chase Sauder, Andriy Popelnytskiy, and Ryan Kealey.
CB South (7-2-1, 6-2-1 SOL) is off until Wednesday when it hosts Pennsbury in another crossover game.
Truman (0-11, 0-10 SOL) next plays Wednesday night at North Penn.
CB South 2 8 – 10
Truman 1 0 – 1
Thursday, Sept. 28
Nonleague
Central Bucks South 4, St. Joseph’s Prep 0
Sandwiched in between league games, CB South found time for a road game against the Philadelphia Catholic League’s St. Joe’s Prep and dominated play to come away with the shutout victory on Thursday.
“We rotated a lot of guys against Bensalem (on Wednesday), so we were fresh and ready to go again today,” said CB South coach Kyle Pettican. “Once we kicked off, St. Joe’s dropped back a lot and let us play. Possession was probably 80-20 in our favor because of this.
“We just possessed around the back, remained patient and attacked when ready.”
The Titans led 2-0 at halftime with goals by Anthony Bice and Evan Jaskelewicz. Jaskelewicz and Christian Canally scored in the second half.
“For the second half, we decided to change our style completely and played direct and go at them,” Pettican said. “We created a lot more chances in the second half. … We should have scored more with the chances we had, but the positive is that I got everyone in the game tonight.
“I will give St. Joe’s credit. They are a young and hungry team. They try to play the right way. They will be great in a year or two.”
St. Joe’s Prep 0 0 – 0
CB South 2 2 – 4
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